LGC risk pools headed to court over latest reorganization

The Local Government Center is going to court in a dispute with state regulators over the legality over its latest reorganization.

Effective Sunday, the LGC essentially ceased to exist as an umbrella organization, with the New Hampshire Municipal Association and two public risk pools, HealthTrust Inc. and Property-Liability Trust Inc., as separate organizations. However, all three still share a building and the two risk pools share an executive director, Peter Bragdon.

The LGC has been in a long-running battle with the state Bureau of Securities Regulation over its business practices, a case now pending before the Supreme Court. A separate lawsuit was filed last month in Strafford County Superior Court by Concord and nine towns angered by the way the LGC planned to return improperly retained surplus money to its members.

The bureau objected to the LGC’s planned reorganization in an Aug. 22 letter, saying it didn’t meet the requirements of state law. The risk pools disagreed and announced yesterday they had filed a complaint in Merrimack County Superior Court, seeking a judge’s ruling that the reorganization is, in fact, legal.